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“Superbly researched, energetically argued, and extremely well written… One ends by admiring the quality and breadth of Pichichero's research, which has triumphantly placed the conduct of war squarely within the domain of the Enlightenment, and indeed turned 'military enlightenment' from an oxymoron into a truism.”

Colin Jones, review in French Studies

THE Military Enlightenment

Finalist for the Oscar Kenshur Book Prize

for best interdisciplinary book in Eighteenth-Century Studies

Now in available in ebook and paperback through Cornell University Press and other booksellers.

Translations forthcoming:

Mandarin: China Renmin University Press

Russian: Academic Studies Press European Studies

Recent publications:

-“Afrofeminist Microhistories and the Making of Modern Black French Identities,” Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, vol. 26 (2022).

-“‘Ma France, c'est Joséphine’: The Crucible of Race in French and Francophone Studies,” with Jennifer Boittin, Journal of the Western Society for French History, Vol. 48, 2022.

-“‘Is God Still French?’: Racecraft, States of Exception, and the Creation of l'Exception Française," PMLA, Vol. 137, No. 1 (2022).

-“Critical Race Theory and the Multicultural French Enlightenment," Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, Volume 49 (2020).

-Edited volume: Race, Racism, and the Study of France and the Francophone World Today, with Dr. Emily Marker, available on H-France.

 

Winner, 2022 NAACP Arlington President’s Award for GMU Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force

Winner, 2021 Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion

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Christy Pichichero is a public intellectual and Associate Professor of History and French at George Mason University. She earned her A.B. in Comparative Literature at Princeton University, her B.M. in Applied Music (Voice - Opera) from the Eastman School of Music, and her Ph.D. in French Studies from Stanford University. She is the Director of Faculty Diversity in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Past President of the Western Society for French History, and a thought leader in Critical Race Theory, anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

curriculum vitae ~ departmental website ~ writing sample

 

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a mentor and a transformative force in my life. As a public school- educated, multiethnic African-American woman in my first year at Princeton, I was utterly unsure where or how I fit into the illustrious, yet exclusive…

Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was a mentor and a transformative force in my life. As a public school- educated, multiethnic African-American woman in my first year at Princeton, I was utterly unsure where or how I fit into the illustrious, yet exclusive history and present of the university. Toni took me under her wing. She uplifted me. She empowered me. In her Ateliers, she literally let my voice ring free. It is my life’s mission to do the same for others.

Rest in power, Toni. Your good works live on.

On the military enlightenment

“In a world full of hyperbole, it is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the most important books I will ever likely review. Christy Pichichero has produced a tour de force of elegance, breadth, and sophistication that is rare to find even from the pen of a senior scholar, never mind in the pages of a first book.”

(Guy Rowlands, author of The Financial Decline of a Great Power: War, Influence, and Money in Louis XIV’s France)

"The Military Enlightenment is comprehensive, original, and significant. It has so many virtues, I hardly know where to begin. It is impressively sweeping in the source material Christy Pichichero mobilizes, daring in its chronology, and beautifully written. It will command the attention of scholars in a wide range of disciplines, including history, literature, philosophy, and psychology."

(Rafe Blaufarb, author of The Great Demarcation)
 

"Christy Pichichero has written an ambitious, wide-ranging, engaging, and informative book about what she calls the 'military Enlightenment' in eighteenth-century France. Well-researched and clearly presented, it will be read avidly by historians, scholars of eighteenth-century French literature and philosophy, and military historians."

(David A. Bell, author of Shadows of Revolution)
 

"Christy Pichichero’s thought-provoking work should inspire, or compel, us all to reconsider eighteenth-century military thought in a much broader context. She presents an impressive variety of issues discussed across a range of contemporary genres. Her study of enlightenment France marvelously demonstrates that the consideration of military topics both by professionals and by civilians infuses as well as reflects the intellectual tenor of an age."

(John A. Lynn II, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of Battle)
 

"The Military Enlightenment provides a refreshing angle in European cultural histories of war. Christy Pichichero unpacks the paradoxical questions that inspired the military enlightenment: how to wage war with greatest economy and efficiency but also how to wage war humanely, with compassion and civility. Pichichero’s work deftly shows how both great and lesser-known minds struggled to achieve these ideals in eighteenth-century France and how the military enlightenment continues to inform war ethics to this day."

(Christian Ayne Crouch, author of Nobility Lost)

REVIEWS:

Colin Jones in French Studies

Guy Rowlands in Eighteenth-Century Studies

Featured Review by Brian Sandberg in the American Historical Review

Christine Haynes in the Journal of Military History

Lieutenant Colonel Jobie Turner for H-War

Christopher Tozzi in The Historian

D.A. Harvey in Choice

Jonathan Abel in History: Reviews of New Books

Adam Storring for H-Soz-Kult (Germany) 

Isabelle Deflers for Francia Recensio (Germany)

FULL BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE MILITARY ENLIGHTENMENT - available upon request

News & Updates

 

December 1, 2019 - My talk on French Officers in the American Revolution is broadcasting on C-SPAN television and online. Here is the link (please cut and paste it in your browser): https://www.c-span.org/video/?465142-1/french-officers-american-revolution

January 30, 2020 - Emily Marker and I are happy to announce that Part II of the H-France salon “Race, Racism, and the Study of France and the Francophone World Today” has been released! It examines the way race and racism unfold in the academy, shaping student pipelines and faculty careers in the field. It also interrogates questions of privilege and allyship. Read our introduction and enjoy the 5 amazing pieces by Tyler Stovall, Nimisha Barton, Mita Choudury, Stephen Harp, Crystal Fleming, and Pratima Prasad.Check out Part II HERE. Part I on the state of the field in studies of Race and Racism has exciting contributions from Éric Fassin, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, Abdellali Hajjat, Dorian Bell, Françoise Vergès, and Madeleine Dobie. Read our introduction to the series HERE and check out the full issue HERE.

September 7, 2020 - Delighted to share the video recording of the launch of WSFH Engagé.e.s and our first program: Equity and Solidarity in the Times of COVID. HERE is the link or you can scroll down to the media section of this site!

September 30, 2020 - My conversation with award-winning Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat is taking place this evening! We will discuss her newest collection of short stories, Everything Inside, as well as her approaches to writing and much more!

September 30, 2020 bis - Edwidge Danticat is as kind as she is brilliant. If you missed tonight’s event, please check out the recording HERE or below in the media section.

January 11, 2021 - I am delighted and honored to be featured in Authority Magazine on "5 steps each of us can take to proactively heal our country." The interview was published today! I am humbled to join the list of people that Authority Magazine has interviewed, from scholars like Dr. Jane Goodall and executives from major companies such as Pfizer, Pepsi, Oracle, and L'Oréal, to creatives, athletes, and stars like Ava DuVernay, Shaq, Payton Manning, and Snoop Dogg. HERE is the link!

May 3, 2021 - I am honored to announce that I am a recipient of a Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the university’s highest honor for this work. Profound thanks to the many colleagues who supported my nomination and to those who have spent tireless hours working alongside me to make our university, academic discipline, country, and world more inclusive, equitable, and just. We are definitely stronger together!

February 8, 2023 - What a fantastic experience presenting at the Postcolonial Spatialities Group at the Stanford Humanities Center. Thank you all for coming out!

Christy Pichichero, Postcolonial Spatialities Group, Stanford Humanities Center, February 8, 2023.

Available at Cornell University Press, Amazon, and other booksellers.Email me for a discounted rate.

Available at Cornell University Press, Amazon, and other booksellers.

Email me for a discounted rate.

Media

As demonstrated by the special exhibition Watteau's Soldiers: Scenes of Military Life in Eighteenth-Century France, Watteau's soldiers reveal a paradox: thei...

Western Society for French History 45th Annual Conference Reno, Nevada 4 November 2017

Conference Plenary Roundtable: Addressing Structural Racism in French History and French Historical Studies

Chair and Organizer: Christy Pichichero, George Mason University

University Discussants:

Jennifer Boittin, Pennsylvania State University Muriam Haleh Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz; Minayo Nasiali, University of California, Los Angeles; Felix Fernand Germain, University of Pittsburgh; Tyler Stovall, University of California, Santa Cruz; Robin Mitchell, California State University, Channel Islands; Emily Marker, Rutgers University-Camden; Nimisha Barton, Princeton University; The Audience

 
 
 
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Workshops, Trainings, Consulting

I offer many different workshops, trainings, and consulting services for universities (students, faculty, administration) and other entities inside and outside the world of education (K-12, scholarly societies, non-for-profits, government, companies, and more). Below is a list of sample workshops and trainings. I also create custom workshops and trainings and provide a full suite of consulting services, from strategic planning to strategic doing. Please contact me for more information!

TEACHING WORKSHOPS (for faculty, graduate/postdoctoral instructors, and university administrators)

  • Decolonizing the Curriculum and Classroom  

  • Race and Pedagogy   

  • Teaching for Social Justice  

  • Critical Race Theory in the Classroom 

 

WORKSHOPS FOR STUDENTS and EARLY CAREER SCHOLARS  

  • POC in PWIs (People of Color in Predominantly White Institutions): Our Challenges and Pathways to Success 

  • The Keys to Success: Navigating the Hidden Curriculum in College (for first-generation students, first-year students and transfers, international students) 

  • Your Professional Silhouette: Preparing for the Academic Job Market 

  • Power, Place, and Identity: A Workshop for Graduate Students and Early Career Scholars 

 

ANTI-RACISM; INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE; DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION 

  • Anti-Racism and Transformational Change in Institutions of Higher Education 

  • Implicit Bias in the Academy/Workplace 

  • Inclusive Faculty Search Training (includes implicit bias training) 

  • Creating Inclusive Spaces 

  • Using Data to Plan Institutional Change in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

  • Embracing Inclusive Excellence: Framework and Implementation 

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christyp@alumni.princeton.edu